


Toni and Phil in the Beginning

by Kingley98



Series: Toni Stark and Phil Coulson through the years [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Phil Coulson, F/F, F/M, Fancier technology exists in an earlier time period, Female Tony Stark, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Phil Coulson Is a Good Bro, Phil is a sarcastic shit, Post Howard and Maris Stark's death, Protective Phil Coulson, Teenage Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony needs more friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingley98/pseuds/Kingley98
Summary: Toni Stark was everything the media portrayed her as: Bright, the future, abrasive, dismissive, rude, obnoxious, entitled and spoilt, a brat, egotistical, the adjectives were endless. But she was also nothing like the media portrayed: she was vulnerable, she was an anxious girl with a whole well of daddy issues that could make any shrink a small fortune in sessions alone, she was loyal.... She was learning to survive on her own.Enter Phil Coulson. a 23-year-old Army Ranger who has just returned from a stint in Iraq and is sitting in an airport cafe trying to skype home to his mom when a random teenage girl who smells suspiciously like alcohol and a tinge of weed. And Phil's simple and quiet morning has completely changed.But then again, everyone's lives are changed when Toni Stark sets her eyes on them and decides she's going to keep them.





	Toni and Phil in the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when two days of no sleep occurs and a random tangent pops into my brain and I sort of just run with it and even I have no idea where this is going to end up. Just know it probably has no idea where it's going either and this was all created purely out of my love for these characters.
> 
> I will freely admit I may or may not have a very unhealthy obsession with Iron Man/Tony Stark and Phil Coulson, two of my most absolute favourite characters and members of the MCU. They are just my pure babies and I love them. Which is what brought upon this random thought process of 'Oh I can write FanFiction. It'll be fun!'. Because I love my babies and I love them together.
> 
> So sit back, enjoy the journey and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Phil wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing. Well, that’s a lie. He’d been sitting in front of his laptop for a good 30 minutes trying to connect it with the internet in the café which was in one of the terminals at JFK, so he could talk with his mother. He wanted to let her know he was safely back stateside and would be home in a few hours.

He’d already made the decision to rotate out of the service after his next tour, and he already had a job lined up with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. Or SHIELD. Agents of SHIELD had been sniffing around his base while he’d been in stationed in Iraq and he’d even managed to catch their interest. It was part of the reason he was rotating home early. He was going to run a few tests and have a performance review done while he was home before anything else progressed. He wasn’t too concerned about the reviews and all the paperwork, it was secretly one of the few things he excelled at, so he wasn’t worried.

“You need a stronger output on your wireless connector. The internet here is shit, and with all the devices trying to sync with the system you’re just gonna get jammed up and lose connectivity.” He turned around at the decidedly feminine voice that came from over his left shoulder. He hadn’t been paying too much attention to his surroundings which he could see would be a hazardous and very big no-no if he decided to go and work with SHIELD. He would need situational awareness at all times. 

“What do you mean?” The woman? Girl? Came closer and he could smell the after effects of alcohol on her and a faint tinge of weed emanating off her clothes. She couldn’t be older than 18. 19 at the very most. But there was no way she was 21 and legally allowed to drink. But he kept his mouth shut as she pulled a little device out of her bag and typed a few keys on his laptop. In a matter of seconds he was tapped into a stronger wireless connection that wasn’t crashing every 30 seconds. “I…. Thanks – for this. I’m Phil. Phil Coulson.”

He held his hand out for her to shake. And she just looked at it a moment and he was about to pull his hand back when she decided to shake it. And he was pleasantly surprised that her hands were calloused. He could tell instantly that she used her hands a lot. “Toni.”

He took a moment to study the girl in front of him. He couldn’t help but feel that there was something very familiar about her. Like he’d met her before. But he couldn’t quite place it, and he didn’t have any friends named Toni either. Toni was young, but she was also incredibly beautiful. Her brown, almost black hair was pulled up in a messy bun and pieces were out framing her face. Her tanned skin was a natural shade of golden sun-kissed, most likely she spent a lot of time in the sun tanning or she was of Eastern European decent most likely. She was wearing an oversized AC/DC t-shirt that was tucked in the front of black skinny jeans and the sleeves were rolled up, showing off her skinny arms and she was wearing combat boots that were untied. She had a long-sleeved flannel jacket tied off around her waist and her arms were covered in leather and string bracelets with all sorts of designs and patterns and she had a few rings on her fingers. To him, her look screamed punk rock/boho chic. It was very her.

“Can I get you a coffee or something as a thank you for helping me out? You look like you could use one. No offence.” He asked, and honestly she looked like she was dead on her feet. Either from being hung over or she hadn’t slept in a few days.

“You don’t need to do that. And honestly, all this…. This was no problem. You looked like you could use the help. Although didn’t your momma ever teach you how to talk to a girl? You don’t ever tell a girl she looks tired. That’s just asking for a world of trouble. And a smack upside the head.”

“I have a feeling, you don’t care what people think of you or how you look. And something tells me you honestly don’t care that I’ve pointed out you could use a coffee.”

“Well no. But that’s just me. I’m just tryin to give you some friendly life advice about the opposite sex. You’d think a guy would appreciate all the help he could get….”

“I’m not most guys.”

“I’m starting to see that…. Phil. And honestly I’ll take that coffee since you did offer.” 

Phil couldn’t really understand the girl sitting next to him. He bought her a coffee and had half expected her to leave once she'd gotten it, but instead she sat quietly beside him while he made his skype call home to his mother to let her know he’d arrived safe back to the United States and that he was coming home for a few weeks if not months. But as soon as he’d ended his call and they started talking she was a mix of cross thoughts and half-finished sentences when her mind went on a different tangent.

He could recognize the sporadic and lapses in thought as someone who’s brain worked at a different level of intelligence and just her sheer knowledge of mechanics and computers was awe-inspiring to listen to. This young girl was a wealth of knowledge and random facts, but she just didn’t stop. And for the life of him he couldn’t place why her face was so familiar. He was so sure he had no idea who she was, that he’d never met her before, but she just looked so familiar.

At one point in their almost one sided conversation, he’d bought her a cheeseburger and he’d never seen someone spare a burger the same level of appreciation for the food as she’d done when he offered. But there was just something about her face, or maybe it was her demeanor that just made him want to stay and talk with her. To see that light in her eyes as she spoke about the things she was passionate about, the light as he spoke about what he did in the Rangers and the types of weapons he used and loved. she grilled him for his answers and she listened with rapt attention when he'd answered. She was just so interested in what he was talking about and he reciprocated by listening to her ramble about her best friend who had just joined the air force after graduation, about her mechanics projects and her robot that she’d made and named Dum-E. And he couldn’t help but love the light in her eyes as she spoke about her next project that was currently still being created but would be her greatest creation ever.

What surprised him most though, was that she’d only just turned 18 the night before and she’d been celebrating by club hopping through New York with a whole bunch of random people she didn’t even know and she was now on her way back to California to start work Monday morning. He soon found out she worked for Stark Industries, the leading company in weapons development and a top contractor with the US military, she was going to work in the R&D Department and he could just imagine the different types of work she’d be doing there that would one day revolutionize and change the world.

They talked and talked so much wrapped up in their own little bubble that he missed his flight to Portland. But he just couldn’t tear himself away from the beautiful brunette he was talking with, and he really enjoyed her company. Her personality was a breath of fresh air for him after months spent slaving away in the desert of Iraq with only a few of his unit for company, and she was honestly one of the kindest people he’d met since he’d come back stateside.

“…. Thanks, by the way.” Toni whispered to him and he turned his head down to face her, he was completely confused as to her reason for thanks.

“What for?”

“For being a decent human being. And being kind. It’s rare to find that these days…. Especially for me.”

“There are plenty of kind people out in the world.”

“No…. There really aren’t…. I’ve looked.”

“Then you’re not looking in the right places.” He could see she was about to say something but a random person in a tailored black suit approached them both with a blank expression on his face, but he could see the slight frown that he quickly tried to cover.

“Miss Stark, we’ve been searching for you for the last two hours. Your plane is ready to depart.”

He couldn’t help but rear back in shock and look down at Toni. It all clicked in his mind when he caught the slight guilty look in her eyes when she turned to look at him. She was Antonia Stark. Heiress to the Stark Empire and the recently orphaned genius daughter of Howard and Maria Stark.

He couldn’t believe it. He’d just spent a good two and a half hours talking and joking with the richest woman in the country and she hadn’t said a word. But he also hadn’t figured out who she was. But for some reason he wasn’t offended or mad like some people would be, he could understand her need for anonymity. He could understand her need for privacy and he could understand now why she was thanking him. He’d treated her like a normal human being and like an everyday normal person instead of putting her up on a pedestal and worshiping the ground she walked on, or tearing her apart like the media did. It made the next words out of his mouth so much easier to say when he made the final realization that Toni had probably very rarely been treated like a normal person in her whirlwind and high profile type of life. And he'd come to a realization that he probably wasn’t ever going to see her again so what he said wouldn't really matter all that much.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Toni. And thank you for your help with my computer. I really appreciated it.” He gave her a kind smile and for a brief moment he could have sworn he saw genuine relief sweep through her eyes when she looked up at him. They stood and stared at each other for a few brief moments and he could see that her eyes were searching for something or they were analyzing him. He had no clue what it was she was looking for, but whatever it was he figured she'd found it when she gave him a blinding smile.

“Mark, tell the pilot to file a flight plan with Portland. We’re going to be making a quick stop to deliver a soldier home to his mom….”

“You really don’t need to do that…”

“Nonsense. I’m the reason you missed your original flight. Please, it’s the least I could do for you and it’s honestly no skin off my teeth. Plus it’ll give us another six hours to talk.”  
“…. Thank you.”

++++

Phil couldn’t really believe that he was sitting across from Toni Stark on her private jet. He was pinching himself at the sheer disbelief and the absurdity of the situation he currently found himself in. But even he could admit to himself that it was nice. And Toni was nothing like the media and the magazines made her out to be. She was kind, funny, outlandishly witty and could outsmart every single person he knew. But he would also say she was humble, polite, caring, inquisitive and mature well beyond her 18 years.

“You can ask me you know. I’m not gonna bite your head off. You can ask me whatever you want.” But all the questions he’d had swimming around in his mind all vanished the moment he had permission to ask whatever he wanted. And the only thing he could think to ask was:

“Are you okay?”

“….What? OK, I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming. No burning desire to pick apart my brain? No burning questions about whether or not the media is right about who I am?”

“No. I’ve already gotten the chance to pick your brain when we were sitting in that café and I already know the media reports about you are complete bullshit. So my only burning question is, ‘are you okay?’ and ‘why help me?’.”

“Well the second question is easy enough to answer. Because I wanted to and because something about you reminded me of my Honey Bear. He’s an officer in the Air Force stationed in Iraq. So I have a big soft spot for a men in military uniform….”

“And the first question?”

“Today? Yeah, I’m great. Tomorrow? That’s a whole different can of worms. And yesterday? Yesterday could’ve been better. But I’m Toni Stark. I’m always fantastic…” Phil watched Toni’s big press smile spread across her face as she spread her arms out as in ‘look at me. I’m completely fine’ type of way. And he could see right through it. He could see the cracks clear as day in her armour.

“I call bullshit. I see you, Toni. The real you. I see the 18-year-old girl that loves engineering, the girl who created a demented A.I. bot named Dum-E that is a tragic mess but who you won’t change for the world because he’s your tragic mess. I see a young girl that’s had to grow up way too fast, and who has no idea what kindness or compassion is and who acts way tougher than she really is. I see a girl who guards herself against everyone because no one has ever approached you without having an ulterior motive, so you’ve learned to hide yourself away in places that I think even you can’t find anymore. And honestly, I see a young girl who just wants a friend to understand her and want nothing from her.”

He had no idea what possessed him to say everything that was on his mind, but he didn’t regret it. He did feel bad that he’d made snap judgement decisions about her life, because honestly he had no idea what her life was like. But he was surmising off the 2 hour-long conversation they’d just been having in the airport that Toni led an incredibly lonely life and wasn’t afforded the opportunity to have many genuine friends.

“And what? You want the position of being my friend? Yeah right. No one wants to be ‘just friends’ with a bratty, 18-year-old narcissist, that cares about only herself. So what’s your angle Phil Coulson?”

“No angle. And I never said I wanted to be your friend. I just said that you wanted a friend that didn’t want anything from you and who could understand you. Nowhere in my little speech did I mention wanting to sign up for the job of being your friend. Because quite honestly, you wouldn’t believe me if I said I would be. You’d sit there trying to decipher what it meant and trying to find the hidden angle. If you want to be my friend, you’ll figure a way to make it happen. You’ll do it on your own terms and in your own time.”

They sat in a relatively comfortable silence for the remainder of the trip to Portland. He read a book that he’d purchased at the airport and Toni sat across from him writing some long and intricate piece of code that he couldn’t even begin to understand. But every now and then he would look up and find Toni already looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face, but she wouldn’t say anything. Just turn back to what she was working on and continuing on with her work or she’d continue to stare at him until he looked away. Not at all apologetic for being caught staring at him.

But they continued that routine until Toni broke the silence between them.

“Ok.”

“Huh….? Ok, what?”

“Ok, you can be my friend.”

“Hello friend.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi my lovelies!!!!
> 
> So this was my first attempt at a fanfiction so I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave all the hate at the door, this is a strictly constructive criticism flight. So if that's too complicated for anyone, please know that all attempts to bring down my work will be in vain. I'm an Aussie we eat negativity for breakfast.
> 
> Haters gonna hate and all that jazz. But please let me know what you liked, what you didn't, any feedback you have on my writing. This is a safe space, no judgement allowed


End file.
